She's the Man
by fangirl0647
Summary: This is a version of the outsiders where all of our favorite guys are alive and back home, but there's a catch: there is a girl. Her name is Makenzie Carson and this is her story. Rated T for language and some mature concepts.


**This is a slightly more modern version (you can tell by the way they talk. Still same time/ Year though) of The Outsiders where the whole gang is still there, alive and well, but there's an extra. A girl. Her name is Makenzie Carson. This is her story.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own The Outsiders or its characters, only my original characters and the plot line.**

Looking in the mirror, I turn my head this way and that way, trying to find a different angle, but no matter how I look at it, the cut going across my cheek and the bruise forming underneath and around my eye look bad no matter what. Giving up, I walk back to my kitchen table where I station my schoolwork. No one lives here except me, so I could put my stuff basically wherever, although I usually keep the house tidy. My folks died around two years ago, but I never went to a home. I have a family. My gang. They sorta raised me these past years, but I mainly took care of myself. The official people think that I'm living with my uncle. Haha, nope. I don't even have an uncle. (Insert smiling, deceiving face here)

Plopping down on the chair with a sigh, I run my fingers through my hair staring at the books before me. My hair is strawberry blonde, a little past my shoulders in length. I always take care of it, never going for more than a week without showering. For greasers, their hair is their pride and joy. I'm no different. Tucking it behind my ears, I pick up my pencil and start back up on the last part of my reading project. I work for about ten minutes when I hear them. The loud whoops, the laughs, the sound of a knock and then my front door opening. Yep, my gang is here.

Making sure that my hair is securely covering my face, I keep working on my project. That's when they pile in. The gang: Darrell "Darry" Curtis, 21, Sodapop Curtis, 17, and Ponyboy Curtis, 15, Steve Randle, 17, Keith " Two-Bit" Mathews, 19, Johnny Cade, 17, and last, but not least, Dallas Winston, 18. Dally was like my older brother. Sure, I looked up to the others, but they aren't the same as Dally. We really have a connection. The only other one that I feel closer with than the rest would be Sodapop Curtis. Soda and I are very close, but in a much different way than me and Dally. He is protective and kind and loving, but it's not a brotherly love that I feel for Soda. Things are different between us than with any of the other guys. I'm not sure of anything when it comes to Sodapop Curtis. Other than the fact that we love to ruthlessly flirt and tease each other.

"Hey, Kenz," says Ponyboy as he hops onto my counter. "Hey guys," I say, not looking up. "How's it going, sweet cheeks?," Soda asks, a smug look crossing his face as a shudder runs through my body at hearing that dreadful nickname. "Fine until you got here, asshole," I say, still hiding my face. I hear chuckles come from Steve and Two-Bit. "Language!," Darry warns. "Darry, I'm 15 years old, I can say what I want," I reply. I was the youngest of the group, Ponyboy following closely. We were 4 months apart. They didn't care what he says, not really, but when I say a bad word, they get their panties in a wad.

"He's right, though," says Dally from his spot next to the icebox, "You shouldn't be sayin things like that. Obviously I'm okay with it as long as it's directed towards Soda (this earned him a look from said boy) or the occasional Soc but otherwise you shouldn't make talkin like that a habit." I huff in annoyance, earning a chuckle from all the boys.

"Y'all are too much sometimes," I say with a laugh, being VERY cautious to hide the right side of my face as I set my pencil down and turn to face them. I turn away the wince that I feel when I smile, the action causing a soreness and slight pulling at my cut and bruise. "Say, Kenz, you got a beer?," Steve calls from my couch. "Does it look like I do much drinkin around here, Randle? Luckily for you, I have some in the icebox." At hearing this, Steve scrambled towards my fridge. "Thank you, Kenzie! And I think you got a nosebleed. There's some blood on your shirt." I look down to see a small red stain on the collar of my shirt. "Yep, nosebleed," I mumble.

When I smiled it must have caused some blood to leak out. The cut was quite fresh so it hasn't really scabbed over yet. "Anyways, thanks for the drink," Steve says, hopping onto the counter. "Yeah, no problem. There's a few more in there for anyone who wants one." I get three looks.

"Makenzie Grace, why do you have beer?," Dally asks, moving to lean against the counter next to Soda. "Why not?," I say with a smirk. "Because you're 15 and you shouldn't be drinking that's why," Darry says from Sodas other side. "It's bad for you," Soda says simply. "Oh, come on! It was one drink I had three weeks ago to celebrate my midterms. Me and Two-Bit were hanging out and he said it would be fine. I just got the pack because I know y'all. Chill out, guys," I say, throwing my hands up and flipping my hair out of my face, forgetting that there was a reason it was there.

A silence takes over the house as people stare at me and I realize what I have done. "Makenzie," Darry says quietly, "What happened to your face?" Busted. Everyone has stood up. Steve had moved from the couch and was standing at the end of my kitchen on my side. "Nothing," I say quickly, covering it up and turning back to my schoolwork, "I ran into a tree." I become extremely interested in a jelly stain on the table, not looking up. Suddenly, Dally was turning my chair to face them, squatting down in front of me, gingerly moving my hair.

"This was not a tree," he states. I glance at the others and I can tell that they're pissed. "I'm okay," I say, trying to get out of the hole I dug myself into. "Nope. No one is okay when they look like that," Darry says. Dally nods his head in agreement.

"I'm fine, seriously," I say. Dally pokes my cheek a little and I involuntary wince. Everyone looks about ready to kill by now. "See? You're not. Who?" I try to think of how to respond, an excuse trying to form. "It was just a little squabble. We had something to even out. I was walking home from school and they stopped by, nothing really happened. I had picked a fight earlier with this jerk and-," my ramble is interrupted. "Who?" Dally looks dead serious. "It's no big deal. He was jus-," once again, I'm Interrupted.

"HIM! It was a boy that did this to you?!," Soda finally explodes. "Soda, listen. Yes, a guy did this bu-" "NO one, especially not a Soc and definitely not a guy has the right to do this to you! No one!," Soda nearly yells. He walks over to me and nudges Dally aside, who moves without protest. "Who was it?," he asks softly. "Soda," I plead quietly, my defense crumbling.

"Who," he asks more firmly, gently holding my chin and examining my face. I sigh in defeat. "Ben Mitchell," I reply in a near whisper, but everyone heard. As soon as I said his name, the guys were up and out of there faster than I could say "but". I dash out of the house after them but they were already running off in the direction of the Soc's typical hangout. Although I knew I would be able to catch them easily if I followed, they would send someone back with me before I could stop them. I needed to get in front of them.

I am the fastest runner in the group by far. The only one that comes close to me is Ponyboy, and he's a track star. I never felt like going out for track, but I am grateful for the speed now. I zip through every back road and alley way until I know that I'm far enough ahead of them and in a spot where they can't send one off to get behind me. I know that this is the route they're taking because it's the easiest. Less hills and stuff. But it also makes it easier for me. There are two long houses on either side of me, blocking any side exit that might could've happened.

I know that there is blood streaming down my face from my cut. No doubt. I try my best to clean it up before they get here so they won't get too much more pissed. I'm standing behind one of the houses waiting to hear them come when I finally hear the angry conversation and hard breathing that is of my gang. When they're at the middle of the houses I run out to the road and wait for the bozos to see me. That doesn't happen till they are about three quarters away from the other side.

"You need to calm down," I say the to sweaty boys in front of me. But I look right at Soda when I say it, angling towards him. I have never seen him this mad. "I will fight y'all if it means you won't go start a fuss with Ben over a small bruise he left." "And a not-so-small cut that is bleedin even worse!," Johnny exclaims. "I'm going to punch his face in eventually so why not now?," Two-Bit says with a shrug.

"I am not joking! I will fight each and every one of y'all, and you know how well I can hold my own," I tell them. "Kenzie, he hurt you. Nobody is allowed to do that and get away with it," Soda tries to reason with me. "You think I didn't get a few punches in? Heck, Ben is probably worse off than I am." This draws a few chuckles. I knew I had won."I know that you want him to pay, but you can always punch his face in at a rumble. Now, can we please not go hurt someone right now and just go home?," I ask hopeful. Sighs of defeat and 7 reluctant nods from 7 even more reluctant boys.

I walk over to the group and am enveloped in hugs. I hug Soda last, and he doesn't really let go. "Well good, cause I'm actually exhausted," as the words leave my mouth I find myself leaning on Sodapop for support, who wraps an arm around my waist. "Y'all are slow, you know that?," I comment as we make our way back to our street, chuckling. The boys just laugh. We were walking and I felt like I was going to collapse, putting almost all my weight on Soda. He notices this, of course, and swipes my knees out from under me so that he's carrying me bridal-style.

I try to protest and say that I can walk, but he ain't havin it. That Curtis is as stubborn as I am. I can tell that Dally is sending us a confused look, so I just look up at Soda, who is smiling down at me but still has some worry etched in his face. "Sodapop, if I got worried every time you came home with a black eye or a cut and went to go beat up whoever did it, both of my hands would be broken and there wouldn't be any Socs left," I say to him quietly. "I know that, bu-" "I ain't done, boy. The reason I don't do that is because I know you got a good few hits in and that you were able to handle them." He thinks this over.

"Kenz, it's different. You're not some greaser. You're a girl who shouldn't have to deal with these no good…," Soda went on and called the Socs every name he could think of, and Soda doesn't curse like that often.

"Sodapop Patrick Curtis!," I burst out finally, interrupting his rant, "I am just as much as a greaser as you are! It don't matter if I'm a girl or a boy, we are all in this together. In reality, I have to fight harder to keep a tough image so them perverted or drunk Socs don't bother me too much." Soda winces when I say that last part. But I'm not finished. "I am perfectly fine with dealing with all this crap. The only reason the girls on the west side don't have to be like the boys is because they don't have to worry about being jumped by a car full of jackasses who think they can do whatever they want."

I'm out of breath when I finish. I realize that we had all stopped and that everyone was listening to me. Soda looks at me with shock in his eyes, but there's something else. Affection. He holds me to his chest and I bury my face in his neck. I feel the others join in on the hug. When they let go, we keep walking, but I keep my head on Sodas shoulder.

We reach my house after about two more minutes. After I insist that I'm able to walk up the stairs and inside, soda puts me down. The whole gang still comes in. I walk to my room, grab my clothes, and head for the bathroom, drawing the line at the door, telling Soda and Dally that they can stand outside the door while I shower and change if it makes them feel better.

I get in the shower and wash my hair and body, being wary of my face, cleaning the left and letting water flush out the cut on the right. When I'm done, I hop out and dry off, brushing my hair and towel drying it. I slip on my dads big grey shirt and a pair of one of the boys boxers, either Sodas or Johnny's I think, rolling the waistline about three times before taking one last look in the mirror. The bruise below my eye, now blue, purple, yellow and green, has become way more noticeable, and the cut is still dripping blood and filthy. Oh well, I sigh.

I open the door and find Sodapop and Dally right where I left them, laughing their heads off at something Two-Bit said. I walk straight past them and to the kitchen, where I dig in the medicine cupboard for the first aid kit. "I got it out while you were in the shower," someone says from behind me. I turn around to see Soda leaning against the far counter, holding the kit in his hands.

"Thanks," I say as I walk towards him, holding my hand out. "Let me," he says. Knowing that he won't let me do this on my own, I put my arm down with a sigh, mumbling about how I'm a big girl and I can do it myself. As I hop onto the counter, Sodapop chuckles and says, "I know you can do it, but that doesn't change the fact that I want to." I smile a little at that comment.

Soda dabs at the side of my cut with an alcohol wipe and looks me in the eye. "Thank you for everything," I whisper as I put my hand over his, stopping the movement. "My pleasure," he says back, never breaking eye contact. We stay like that until we hear a loud ruckus from the living room and laughter following suit. That breaks us from our trance. "Sweetheart, this is gonna hurt but it will help," Soda warns me as he holds up the bottle of peroxide. I grimace and nod, tilting my head back a little. Soda tilts my chin up a little more and I close my eyes as he pours the liquid onto my cheek.

As soon as he's done pouring he sets the bottle down and laces his hand through mine, which was cutting into the counter. I feel the sting and squeeze his hand as his thumb on his other hand strokes my jawline. The burn goes away and I slowly pry my eyes open and look at soda, who was wiping away the excess alcohol and placing a butterfly bandage over the middle of the cut to hold it together, careful not to apply pressure to my bruise.

"All done," Sodapop says softly, his thumbs stroking either side of my face. I nuzzle into his hand that rests on my good cheek. We are both leaning in when he says, "not here. Not with them out there. I'm not about to have my first kiss with you when there are six other bozos in your living room." I chuckle at this, but nod in agreement.

We sit like that for a good five minutes, talking, soda leaning against the counter In between my legs, tracing my jaw like this is completely normal for us. "Are y'all done in here?," asks a voice from the kitchen doorway. Sodapop literally jumps five feet in the air, and I do too. "Yeah, we're done, dally," I reply, a blush creeping up on me. Dallas looks confused but still glares at Soda before heading back to the living room.

Soda offers me a hand, which I gladly take, and hop off the counter. We follow Dally and walk into the living room where Dallas is leaning against the wall, sending me and Soda questioning and confused looks as well as glares. Two-Bit and Steve were arm wrestling while Ponyboy and Johnny were actually wrestling. Darry was just laughing at the whole ordeal.

Darry is also the first one to notice us. "You get the girl all cleaned up?," he asks Soda. "Yep. Should be good as new in no time," Soda replies, looking at me with a smile. But I'm not paying attention. "Hey, hey, hey, you should know better than to arm wrestle without me!," I tell Two-Bit as he is about to go down, "I'm playin winner." It takes about three seconds after I said that for Two-Bit to give up and his arm bangs loud on the coffee table.

Not even waiting for him to move aside so I can play, I shove Two-Bit over and get ready. "You sure you want to do this," Steve asks smugly. "I should be the one asking you that," I say as I crack my knuckles, wiping the smirk off his face. All the boys have gathered around us, wanting to see who wins. I wrap my hand around his, making sure I have a good grip. "Three, two, one… Go!" We both start pushing.

I glare at him, staring him straight in the eye, not letting up. He starts to slacken the push as my glare wigs him out. I wait a few more seconds when BAM! I apply all the force I have and smash his arm into the table. "I win!," I state happily. Steve rubs his arm, chuckling but still cursing at how good I am at that. We all laugh and talk as we lounge around the room. Then I yawn.

"Okay," I say mid-yawn, "I'm tired so I'm gonna go to bed." Everyone nods in agreement. We exchange hugs and they all leave, but Soda hangs back. "Make sure your door is locked. And you can call the house if you need anything tonight. I don't want you walking at night alone, even if it is literally to right down the street," he says, giving me one last hug. I nod, yawning again. " 'mm Kay," I say into his chest. Soda plants a kiss on my forehead then walks out after the others. After locking my door behind him. I head straight for my bed. I'm asleep before my head even hits the pillow.

 **Sodapop's POV**

I give her a kiss on the forehead and walk out while I still can. That girl has no idea what she does to me. That outfit, God, seeing her in my boxers was something I could get used to. Damn, looks like I'm taking a cold shower tonight. I close the door behind me and I'm walking down the steps of her porch to the rest of the gang when I'm ambushed.

"What's going on with you and Makenzie?," demands Dally, standing in front of me. "What are you talking about?!," I ask, my face going pink. Thank goodness it's dark outside. "Well something's going on," Dally says, sending me a pointed glare. "Nothings going on between us," I swear to Dallas. "I'm just going to let you know that although we isn't related, she is my little sister. I will hurt you. So, just to clarify, nothing is going on between you two?" I nod my head fiercely. " Okay. Goodnight y'all," Dally says simply, turning away and walking to my house. Sometimes he will crash at our place.

The gang mumbles their good nights as we each branch off to our own homes. Finally, it's just me, Darry, Pony and Johnny standing in front of our house. Johnny basically moved in with us, usually sleeping on the couch or floor, we sometimes rotate and he'll sleep with either me or Pony while one of us takes the couch or floor, and sometimes he'll sleep with Darry. He walks into the house after dally.

I'm shocked at tonight's events, and the conversation with Dally. At least he didn't pummel me. "I'm about to be dead to the world, so, goodnight y'all," I say to the boys as I drag my feet towards our house. I can hear dally and Johnny talking in the other room. I hop into the shower, it being freezing cold, then put on a pair of boxers and seeing that Johnny and dally are talking in the kitchen and the other two haven't come inside yet, decide to let the other boys get the bed and one of them sleep with Darry as I collapse on the couch. I fall asleep with one thing on my mind, a beautiful strawberry blonde who makes me smile every time I think of or look at her.

 **Makenzie's POV**

I wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. Nothing seems to be wrong, but I can't shake the feeling that something is about to be wrong. I wrap my blanket around me and walk to the kitchen where the phone is. After dialing the very familiar phone number, it rings about three times before someone answers.

"Hello?," asks a groggy person. "Soda?," I say, getting more freaked out by the minute. When he hears me say his name, he instantly perks up. "Kenz, hey. What's wrong? Are you okay?" "Yeah, I'm fine. I just woke up and I can't help but feel like something is about to go horribly wrong and now that I'm saying it out loud I'm realizing how stupid it sounds. I'm sorry for waking you up an-," my ramble gets interrupted.

"Makenzie, listen to me. Its is perfectly fine that you woke me up and It's not stupid. I completely understand. I have already written the guys a note that I'm going to your place so they won't freak and I am putting my shoes on as we speak. I'll be there in less than five minutes. As soon as I hang up I'll start heading over. Don't answer the door to anyone, I'm going to use my key," Soda says to me through the phone. "Okay," I whisper, "can you hurry?," I say. At hearing that he gives me a quick "absolutely" and hangs up. I go sit on the big chair in the living room.

I try to go back to sleep but I can't stop feeling scared. I hate it. Then the feeling becomes more than a feeling. It's reality. Picking up my blade that I carry, I head towards the kitchen to see what the noise was. The backdoor was being messed with. After shoving a chair under that handle to make sure nobody can get in, I saunter back to my chair.

It's been about two minutes since my phone call with Soda when I hear the doorknob jiggle and the lock turn. I look towards the front door and in walks Sodapop, his hair disheveled and wearing nothing but an unzipped jacket and a pair of low hanging sweatpants.

After locking the door back up and slipping his shoes off, he spots me and saunters over. I stand up and sorta meet him halfway, sighing in relief when his arms wrap around me. Still holding the blanket up, I snake my arms around his waist and breath deeply, inhaling his scent.

"Backdoor," I whisper, and he's gone and checking it out. After looking around the whole house, he comes back to me and pulls me into another hug. He seems tense about something but I just ignore it.

"Thank you for coming," I say into his chest. "I'll always come, no matter what." Feeling safe again, I start to feel sleep overpowering my body and I let lose a yawn. Soda leads me back to my bedroom and we lay down, my head on his bare chest, he had removed his jacket, and his arms wrapped around me securely.

As I slip into the darkness of slumber, I feel him place a kiss on my head. "Goodnight," I mumble. "Goodnight," he says back. His breathing slows and I feel myself fall into one of the best sleeps I've ever had.

I wake up to an empty bed and the smell of cake. Wrapping the blanket around me again, I pad out of my room into the kitchen to see Soda and Darry frosting a cake and Two-Bit sitting on the counter.

"Gosh, you look awful," Two-Bit comments. I haven't been to the bathroom yet but I know that I look terrible. My face hurts like crazy.

"Thanks, Two-Bitch," I say with a smile. I hear gasps from the living room and then laughs afterwards. Two-Bit glares at me, as does Darry. Soda looks like he wants to glare but he is trying super hard not to smile and laugh.

I swipe my finger over the cake to get a glob of frosting, resulting in grumbles, getting whacked slightly with a spatula, and trying to avoid flour-covered grabbing hands as I make my way to the living room.

"Makenzie Grace, have I told you how much I love you?," jokes Steve, who was still laughing. "Maybe once or twice," I say, bringing out a chuckle from each of the guys. Except for Dally.

"Why was Sodapop here pulling a cake out of the oven shirtless when me, Darry, Pony and Johnny walked up?," he demands. Not wanting to deal with him right now, I flop onto the couch and bury my head into the cushions, burrowing into my blanket. I let loose a growl when my blanket is torn away from me.

"Answer me," says Dally, holding the soft, plush, warm love of my life out of my reach. "I woke up last night and I felt like things weren't right so I called Sodas house, he answered, I told him my problem, he came over, and then we slept," I say nonchalantly, stretching my arms, "now gimme my blanket." I hold my hands out for said item, but it isn't placed in them. Dallas Winston walks over to the window, which was open cause some of the guys were smoking, and he drops it outside. He drops my fucking blanket outside.

I gasp, and quickly become red with anger. "What. The. Fuck," I hiss at dally, who has his arms crossed and is looking at me. The guys gasp at hearing me say that. I say the occasional cuss word but nothing like that. He just shrugs. "That was for not calling me. I have told you many times to call me. ME. Not Soda, not anyone. Me. But you didn't. And that was the result." I see red. "Firstly, Fuck you. Secondly, didn't you stay at their house last night?! And thirdly, the whole reason you dropped the thing that I live for out the window is because I didn't call you? Who the hell does that?! That was cold, Dallas." He winced when I say his full name. I never say it, only calling him dally or dal.

I realize that I might be overreacting, but so is he! Maybe, just maybe, dally could cut me some slack every now and then. When I was still 14 after my parents died, the guys had set a curfew. I was two minutes late. Two. On a weekend also. It wasn't even because of a party. I was walking Curly Shepard home because he had gotten drunk off his ass and couldn't tell up from down. But dally still blew his top. When I walked through the door, I could hear his freaking out. When he saw me, he freaked out even more. He is way too protective.

Dally instantly broke. "I'm sorry, it was stupid. I also kinda wanted to see what your reaction would be. And now that I have, I never want to see, or hear, it ever again," he says, uncrossing his arms and reaching to pull me into a hug. "Nope. Not so fast, Dal. First, get my blanket. Then we'll talk."

He literally dives out the window when I say this. After a few seconds my blanket flies through and then dally follows. I pick up my favorite thing in the world and examine it. Still in one piece. Soda and Darry had come out by now and they were watching. "Now, since you dropped the only thing in this world that I love," at this, I look at soda, who had cringed, and winked at him. He instantly relaxed. "I want one thing, and that one thing is for you to raise your arms over your head for five minutes. It hurts. That is your punishment."

Dally sighs, but raises his arms as Johnny runs into the kitchen to set the timer on the clock. "Well, anyways, cakes ready," Darry says, walking out of the room. Everyone follows until it is just me, dally and soda. "Now, us three are going to talk," dally states, looking ridiculous with his arms like that.

"Okay," I say, walking over next to soda. "What's going on between y'all?" I freeze. "N-nothing," I stutter. I never stutter. "Don't lie to me," dally says. "I'm not sure," I admit. "But something is happening," soda finally pitches in. "Okay then," dally says, looking between us before walking into the kitchen, yelling at Steve to cut him some cake.

"Well that went well," I chuckle as soda pulls me into his chest. He laughs. "Yep. But i'm glad that he knows something is happening. He jumped me last night and grilled the shit outta me." I laugh dryly and shake my head in disappointment. "Well, I don't know about you, but I want some cake," I comment, making a break for the kitchen. When we get in there, I notice that there is 10 seconds left on the timer.

I walk over to dally, who was being fed cake by Johnny, and stand him up. "Thank you for accepting your punishment. This will be a lot of fun." The timer goes off, and right before he can put his arms down, I slug him in the stomach. "Don't you ever treat something I love like that again," I warn his hunched form. He can tell I'm not just talking about the blanket.

"Yes ma'am," he wheezes out. "Good," I say with a smile, then plopping down with a big piece of cake in front of me. The guys are all cracking up at what just happened. "That was awesome!," Pony manages to say between gasps of breath.

"Makenzie, sometimes I wonder how you are still alive, taking risks like that," Darry chuckles. "Because he loves me," I say simply with a shrug. "He's not the only one," I hear soda say under his breath before he can catch himself. None of the others heard but I did. Blushing and smiling, I look down at my cake before just about shoving the whole thing down my throat. The guys chuckle and I feel the pull and pain from my cheek as I remember what had happened the day before.

I throw my plate in the sink, then make my way to the bathroom with first aid kit in one hand and Sodapop in the other. I pull the door closed behind us. One look in the mirror and I almost don't recognize myself. The bruise had turned an ugly color, blues, Browns, purples, greens and sickly yellows all mixed together. The cut, on the other hand, was kind of terrifying.

It had a thin layer of scab, and was all kinds of ugly colors. There aren't any words that can even describe it. Knowing that I'm not going to be allowed to fix it myself, I go ahead and sit on the toilet after closing the lid. Soda gets the peroxide and we repeat yesterday, pour, almost break hand from gripping so hard, breathe. Soda was squatting in front of me and putting on the bandaid. When he finishes, I lean my head forward and onto his shoulder, sighing in content.

"Thank you again, for everything," I mumble as we just sit there. "Like I said before, my pleasure," he smiles down at me. "And have I mentioned how much I'm diggin this outfit?," I ask with a smirk and a giggle, gesturing to his sweatpants-clad form.

He chuckles. "I could say the same about you. I don't think anyone has ever looked that good in my boxers." Well, mystery solved. We both laugh. Knowing that someone will get suspicious if we stay in here any longer, I reluctantly move from our position. "Come on, you know they'll start to wonder," I tell his pouty face and offering him a hand. He takes it and hops up.

When we walk out, I see Two-Bit drinking a beer with Steve and talking about what girls they're going to take to Buck Merrill's party on Friday, Johnny and dally having an intense conversation in the corner, and Darry and pony are still in the kitchen cleaning up.

"Are we going to lunch?," Darry yells from the other room. A gallery of 'sure's can be heard. I go to my room to put on clothes, wearing a form-fitting black v-neck t-shirt and a pair of high waisted light blue jean shorts with my black converse. Thank goodness my hair was braided last night.

When I open my door, I see soda leaning on the far wall, having changed into a baby blue t-shirt and jeans (all the guys keep clothes at my house). Soda looks up, then his jaw drops as his eyes scan over my body and outfit. "Wow," he breathes out. "Even beaten and bruised, you still look incredible." I laugh a little. "Not lookin too bad yourself, slick," I say with a wink. I turn and walk towards the living room, purposefully swinging my hips a little, smirking and silently giggling when I hear a sharp intake of breath behind me.

"Y'all ready?," I ask the guys. A series of 'yep's are heard from throughout the house and everyone heads towards the door. I only turn a few heads as we walk towards the diner. People are used to seeing others banged up in this town, especially my clan, just not typically me, or a girl in general. We walk in, and head for our usual booth in the corner.

The guys set their jackets down then head towards the counter to order. "Regular," I holler, heading to the bathroom. I've finished my business and was fixing my shorts in the mirror when the door opens. I don't think anything of it since it was a multi stall bathroom. Then a pair of strong, tan arms wrap around my waist and a face is nuzzling into the crook of my neck, buried, body flushed against body. "You have no idea what this outfit does to me, babygirl." I have to keep my breathing even and my knees from buckling at hearing the nickname.

"You have no idea what you're doing to me, soda," I say, sighing. He makes a purring sound, face never leaving my neck. "We should go back out there, shouldn't we," Sodapop says glumly. I just nod. Finally releasing me, he steps back, tells me to wait a few seconds before following, then walks out the door. I have a few seconds to steady my breathing and compose myself, then I walk after him.

When I get to the table, I see my meal sitting in my designated spot, on the outside seat of the bench against the wall, next to soda, who is in-between me and pony, and Two-Bit, who sits in a chair at the end of the table along with Steve. Ah, how I love triple cheeseburgers and milkshakes along with a mountain of fries.

The guys have never understood how I have such a big appetite. I'm not a small girl, but by no means am I big either. They laugh as I devour almost the whole meal in under 7 minutes. "How?," Two asks chuckling, glancing at his barely half-eaten food as I set my napkin down, plate cleared. "Magic," I say sarcastically. We all laugh.

I lay my head on Sodas shoulder as the guys finish their food, resting my eyes, enjoying Sodas smell. His arm wraps around me while he eats with the other.

I was being shaken. I open my eyes to see that we are still at the diner, and that everyone had finished. I must have fallen asleep. Soda glanced at me a little worried but I shook it off.

Two and Steve were at the counter buying ice cream cones. Guess they were still hungry. They come back and we all sit around and talk. Two hasn't really touched his ice cream cone, only licking around the sides. He has always said that his absolute favorite part is the top and he likes to wait a little before biting it or licking it off. Two-Bit is a weird guy.

I glance at Two-Bit, and I was feeling a little mean because well, why not? I have a plan. I wait for the perfect time. And there it is. Two's hand is resting lazily on the table, ice cream cone in it, top still untouched. Soda sees that I am on the edge of my seat, can tell that I'm thinking and follows my gaze.

I glance up when soda nudges me, and sees he is shaking his head halfheartedly while suppressing a smile. I smirk devilishly. Seeing that Two still has his hand in the same place, I wait 5 seconds while he gets deep into a conversation with Pony and Johnny. Here goes nothing.

I shoot forward and bite off the top of his ice cream cone. Two-Bit stares in shock at his cone and I don't waste any time before jumping up and dancing backwards out of harm's reach. Everyone breaks out into laughter, even Two, but with him it turns to a cackle. "Oh, you are so gonna get it," he growls. He stands up, as does everyone, and I don't wait another second before bolting out the door.

My face hurts but I don't really register it. I hear footsteps and laughter behind me as I'm running down the sidewalk, laughing as well. I turn the corner, look up, and stop dead in my tracks.

"Hello Ben," I say emotionless. Ben Mitchell stands in front of me with two of his guys flanking him. "Hey Kenzie," he says with a smirk. "Don't call me Kenzie," I growl at him through my teeth. He looks slightly taken aback but just rolls his eyes. "Whatever. Nice face." The guys behind him laugh. "Oh really," I sneer, "did you forget that it took you and five other guys to do this to me? 6 of y'all and one of me. Have you looked in the mirror?" His face is an array of colors. He has a swollen black eye, busted lip, and various cuts and other bruises.

Ben glares at me, but shuts up. He regains his composure. "I know I look so desirable right now, no need to stare." I let out a bark of humorless laughter. "You know, maybe you would get laid if you didn't beat up and attempt to rape girls. Oh wait, that's the whole reason you do it."

He opens his mouth likes he's going to say something but then just stares behind me in fright. Then I remember how I came across him in the first place. "Run." And he does. With my gang following in an angry haste. I curse then follow suit.

It's official. I lost them. I'm looking around, but I don't see a trace of Ben and his guys or my gang. My cut is bleeding again and it won't stop. I'm trying to get it to stop when I hear the yells. From the direction of the park. I sprint that way and finally make it. Socs and greasers alike had shown up, it looked like a full on rumble.

The yells were coming from soda, who was being held back by Darry and pony, and Dally, who was being held back by Steve, Two, and Johnny. Everyone looked about ready to murder. I climb on top of a car. "HEY!"

Everyone looks in my direction. I hop off the car and walk towards the fight. "Let's be reasonable here." With that everyone started yelling again. "SHUT IT!" And they did. For about 5 seconds.

"I'm going to fucking kill you!" Dally hisses at Ben. "WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE THAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO TREAT MY GIRL LIKE THAT! NOBODY IS ALLOWED TO HURT HER. WHAT THE FUCK WAS GOING THROUGH YOUR HEAD?! IF YOU FUCKING TOUCH HER AGAIN, IF YOU EVEN LOOK AT HER AGAIN, YOU'LL BE SORRY!" I stared agape at soda. I never thought that he would say something like that. I'm still processing it. Wait a sec, did he say 'my girl'. Oh god, maybe he just said 'that girl'. Oh well. Crap, I should get back to this.

I jog in between the two groups. "Stop!" Soda was still breathing heavy and looked like he could kill. I turn to look at Ben. "Just get the hell outta here," I say. He nods and starts to walk away with the other socs. "Oh, and Ben?" As he turns back to look at me, my fist connects with his jaw. "Stay out of our way," I say dismissively, turning away. But not towards my gang.

I turn and walk away. That simple. I follow one of the paths in the park that curve through some light woods and near a stream. There is a group of large rocks by the water and I sit down on them with my knees to my chest, arms wrapped around my body.

I don't turn around when I hear footsteps. I don't look when someone sits next to me. I don't move. I just stare at the water. "You weren't supposed to know that part," I finally day softly, breaking the silence. "I need to know that part." I sneak a glance at soda to see him looking at me with a heartbroken look on his face. I feel the shattered haze in my eyes, the blood trickling from the wound on my face, the throbbing behind the bruise on my cheek.

"What if something had happened to you? I wouldn't be able to live with myself if he had- if he-," sodas voice breaks and he looks like he wants to cry. "He didn't though." I look back at the water, fighting my own tears. "I was so scared." And I break down.

The sobs break out of me. Soda pulls me into his lap and I cry into his shirt, clutching onto it like it was an anchor. I cry for about 5 more minutes then I start to calm down. I pull my face away from the crook of his neck, not bothering to wipe away the leftover tears. Soda does that for me.

"He and his monkeys followed me. Then I got trapped. He tried to get me to- you know- sleep with him, but I refused. So he threw a punch, and I threw one, or two, or five back. That really pissed him off. So we started fighting and then his guys got involved. One of them pinned my arms behind me while another tried to take my jeans off. The rest just stood in a loose circle like backup. Then he approached me, pinned me to a wall and attempted to kiss me and… more. So I kneed him in the balls, kicked the guy behind him in the face, and ran like hell back home."

I didn't even realize that I was crying again until he brushes his thumbs over my cheeks, very gentle with the bruise and cut, destroying any evidence of tears and blood. His thumbs move down to my jaw. He kisses my forehead, then my nose. We make eye contact, our faces are inches apart. "Are there any bozos around?," he asks. I chuckle. "Nope," I say. "Good."

He closes the distance between us and kisses me gently but passionately. I return the gesture. His hands had moved to cup the back of my neck and now they are at my waist. I wrap my arms around his neck and grip his hair. The kiss deepens, becomes more urgent.

We break away for air. Both of us are panting. I rest my forehead against his. "I love you, sodapop Curtis," I barely whisper. He perks up. "Really?" He sounds so happy. I giggle and nod my head. "I love you too." I press my lips against his. We sit there, kissing and looking at the stream for I don't know how long, all I know is that it was starting to get dark.

I stand up despite sodas protests and groans. I then drag him to his feet where he wraps his arms around me and buries his face in my neck. "Just promise me that if anything like that happens again, you'll tell me everything." "I promise." He looks at me skeptically. "I'm serious. Makenzie Grace Carson, you better promise that you will tell me everything." "I promise," I say gently, pecking his lips.

We walk for a little in comfortable silence. "So what are we?" I finally blurt out. I turn to walk backwards so that I'm facing him. "Well I know that we are definitely more than friends," he says with a smirk. "Can I ask you something?," I say. He nods. "When you were yelling at Ben, did you say 'my girl'?" He looks down, blushing almost. "Maybe," he says softly. "That's not an answer," I point out. He sighs. "Yes." I smile. "Good. Let's keep it that way." I fall back in step with him, and he wraps his arm around me. I can tell that we are both grinning like fools.

When we get back to the park, I see the guys spread out. The other greasers had left and just my gang remained. Some are pacing, others are tapping their feet and bouncing their knees, while a few are doing push-ups and occasionally hitting things. Pony is the first one to see us and he jumps up from his seat on the edge of a tree stump.

"They're back, guys," he nearly yells. Everyone's head whips to where we emerged. I look everywhere except them. "Kenzie, I- I don't know what to say," Darry whispers. "Kenz, look at me." I refuse and continue to stare holes into the ground beneath my feet, half hoping that I'll fall in. "Look at me." I glance up and see dally standing right in front of me, a broken look in his eyes, a look that reflects my own.

Upon making eye contact, he pulls me away from soda into a crushing hug that I return. I feel tears running down my cheeks and hear a sob, and it didn't come from my mouth. Dally cries into my hair, shaking like an earthquake. "Don't you e-ever keep a-anything like that from m-me a-again," he cries. I nod my head as a way of saying absolutely.

The others join in on our hug. Everyone's mumbling about how they'll punish me if I do. Minutes later, we break apart, tears all dried up. I give everyone one last hug before walking right back into sodapops waiting embrace, which brings up the question that didn't even need to be asked.

"So….." Steve says, gesturing with his head and eyes between me and the boy holding me tight. "Yep," I say, knowing exactly what he means. "Okay," says dally. I inwardly let out a sigh of relief. "Let's go home. I'll make dinner," I tell everyone. We start heading back home, everyone laughing and poking fun at me and soda, causing him to blush and me to snuggle even deeper into his side.

When we get back to the house, I head into the kitchen, followed by soda. We decide that, considering our limited resources due to my lack of grocery shopping lately, we will go with a classic: breakfast for dinner. Soda works on making homemade waffles and cream while I do eggs, bacon, and create orange juice with some oranges from the tree out back. And knowing my boys and their nasty love for processed, fake meat, I grab some spam from the cupboard and throw it on the stove.

While in working on the orange juice, soda comes up behind me so he can get to the chocolate chips that I attempt to hide but always end up getting discovered. "I like cooking with you," he whispers in my ear, and it sends shivers down my spine. "It's like we're cooking for kids, which based on the way they act-" the guys can be heard whining and complaining about something, "-we are." He chuckles.

"It's ready, guys!," I tell out when we finish, and you would think there was a fire somewhere with how fast they ran to the kitchen. Everyone fills their plates and go to eat where they wish. Not really hungry, I eat a little then head back to the kitchen and start cleaning up. I'm cleaning up the waffle maker when soda walks in.

"I noticed that you disappeared from my side." He walks up behind me and rests his chin on my shoulder. "I thought I'd clean up in here," I reply. "You want to tell me what's going on?," he mumbles in my ear. "Not really," I say jokingly. I finish with the waffle maker, move it to dry, turn around to face him and lean back against the counter. "Kenz." He searches my eyes, looking for something, anything.

"I just wasn't that hungry. Lost my appetite." Recognition and understanding flash in his eyes, followed by pain. He pulls me to him and I relax in his embrace, breathing in his scent. "I'm here for you, Kenzie. Anytime, anywhere, if you need me, I'm here, baby girl." He kisses my forehead. I look up at him. "God, I love you," I say before I pull his face down and kiss him.

What started out as a sweet, innocent loving kiss soon changed into an urgent need for the other person, as if it was life or death. Soda runs his hands down the sides of my body, and I moan into his mouth when he lifts me up onto the counter. Just like when he fixed me up that first night. The way his hands slowly trace up and down my thighs is making me crazy. His tongue swipes across my lips, asking- no, begging- for entrance. And I grant it to him.

We battle for dominance until I finally submit. He explores my mouth and when he sucks on my tongue a little, I have to use every ounce of power to not cry out his name in pleasure. We have to break for air, but he doesn't waste a second before attacking my neck with hot kisses. Soda moves his mouth agonizingly slow. When he gets to this on spot near the base of my neck, I whimper in bliss. He grins like a mad man against my skin and continues to suck, bite, and press that one spot till I am literally trembling. I know that will leave a mark.

I lean in and whisper into his ear. "If you give me 2 minutes, I'll get the washer and dryer going. Meet me in the upstairs bedroom near the bathroom in the back." I nearly laugh out loud when I see the effect my words have on him. I get the machines going, shake my hair out, and use all the restraint I can possibly contain to not sprint up the stairs.

I saunter slowly to the cracked door of the back room and lightly push it open. But my resolve breaks the second I open the door. I see soda sitting on the end of the bed, bouncing his knee. Closing the door behind me, I slip off my shoes and wait. For about three seconds. When my eyes meet his extremely dark eyes, I shatter. We both do.

He stands up and I nearly run to him. Our lips collide and I climb him like a tree, locking my legs around his waist. I feel something pressing against my inner thigh and silently chuckle. "Excited to see me?" It comes out a lot deeper than I thought. Soda groans into my mouth. His hands that are supporting me move to support my ass. I roll my hips a little, and I think he's going to drop me then and there.

We back up till the back of his knees hit the bed, and he lays down with me straddling him. I roll my hips a little again, his eyes flutter back and I hear the sexiest sound I have ever heard in my life. Satisfied, I begin kissing and sucking on his jawline, which results in some moans from Soda. Then we roll.

Soda is lying in between my legs and he is not holding back. He kisses my neck till I'm sure there isn't any normal colored skin left. He rolls his hips, and it's my turn to groan. I toy with the collar of his shirt and pull it over his head. I trace his abs and the planes of his perfectly toned chest. Gosh, he's perfect. "We aren't having sex tonight." Ugh, never mind. "I want to. Believe me." Oops, I guess I groaned out loud. "But you deserve better than kiss in the kitchen turned hiding what we're doing with the washing machine. Especially after what you just went through." He's more than I deserve.

I groan and roll out from under him. "Damn it, why are you so perfect." He chuckles and pulls me into his bare side. I mindlessly trace my finger across his stomach. I'm dozing off when I feel him move beneath me and reach for something. I crack one of my eyes open to see my mom and dad's wedding photo that I keep on that nightstand in his hands.

"My mom would be gushing about us if she was here," I say quietly. "He probably would be too. They always thought we should date," I joke dryly. "They would both be here is it wasn't for me," I whisper. "It wasn't your fault," soda says softly. "If I hadn't told him about what Daniel Sellers' dad was saying about him, they never would have gone to confront him." Mr. Sellers was like the Ben Mitchell of my dad's school years. They have always hated each other. After schooling, Sellers became a car dealer and my dad became a doctor. Mrs. Sellers and my mother were close friends, but they could never get their husbands to cooperate with each other.

Anyways, Sellers was drunk off his ass and started spreading a rumor that my dad wasn't a real doctor, that he wasn't my real father, and that Sellers himself was my father. None of it was true, of course, but you know men and their egos. So, my dad marched down to the bar where Sellers normally is at night, and my mom followed. Everyone was too worked up and too drunk and some idiot pulled out a gun. My dad ended up getting shot trying to save my mom but she got shot anyways.

"He would've heard about it anyways, and you could've been with him when he confronted that asshole eventually. It killed all of us when they died, it would have ruined us had you gone too. I had already lost my parents, and then your parents—I couldn't bear to lose you too. You're still around to keep their memory alive. You're still around to keep us grounded and sane. You're still around to keep me here."

Soda never fails to surprise, I think as I stare at him, mouth slightly open. Then, I just hug him. I don't know for how long though. I fell asleep and when I woke up, I was in my own bed, and it was several hours later. The clock on my dresser says it's 4:36 in the morning. Knowing that my body won't let me go back to sleep, I get up and shuffle to the kitchen. There I find the note.

Hey baby, you fell asleep. I could tell you were tired so I didn't wake you. The clothes you washed earlier are in the dryer. I have to work tomorrow after school but I'm going to come pick you up. Stay with Pony and Cherry till I get there. Both will be there all day in case you need anything. You can decide to go home or come hang out at the DX with me and Steve later after school. There's cake in the icebox. I love you.  
P.S. – I don't know how you feel about your bruises, and they look fine to me, but Cherry brought over some of her weird powdery stuff when she heard what happened in case you wanted to cover it or something.

I smile as I read the last sentence of the main letter over and over again. I will never get tired of that. IloveyouIloveyouIloveyou. Gosh, I don't deserve him.

I decide against using Cherry's powder due to the fact that it'll hurt and I'm lazy. I throw on a pair of light wash jeans and a grey v-neck T-shirt with my sneakers and put my hair in a messy bun. I turn on my radio as I clean the house a little and eat cake. My favorite song comes on. My Girl by the Temptations.

I'm singing and dancing around my living room picking up as I go. "I guess you'd say, what can make me feel this way-" "My girl." I turn to see Soda leaning against the door frame, grinning like a fool. I blush a little considering I was dancing like a beached whale and singing like a dying hippopotamus with asthma, but I still run and jump into his awaiting arms.

Soda chuckles. "Good to see you too Kenz." I let go and grin at him. Surprisingly, my face didn't hurt that bad. "I didn't think I'd get to see you till this afternoon," I say. "yeah, well, I thought I'd come see my girl." I take a moment to look at him. He's wearing a dark blue shirt, his leather jacket, dark wash jeans, his hair is gelled back, and the whole shebang brings out his gorgeous eyes.

"Damn," I say under my breath. He chuckles and pulls me to him. I breathe in his scent. The smell of woodsy hair gel, rustic cologne and leather perfectly sum him up. My own little paradise is wherever he is. But my blissful joy is short lived.

I lean my head against his shoulder and sigh, weary from the past few days. "He's gonna be there today," I say quietly. His turn to sigh. He pulls away a little so he can look at me. "I know it's gonna be hard, Kenz. You don't have to go if you don't want to." My turn to sigh again. "We both know that's not an option, Soda."

We stand like that until it's time to leave for school. Soda drives me in the car he recently bought. Its an old black impala. The gang is going to repair it and fix it up but for now, it's doable. We pull up to the entrance. "I love you so much," Soda says, his voice laced with worry. "I'm going to be fine. Really. I'll see you after school. I love you too." With a quick kiss, I get out of the car and he pulls away.

I turn and look at the entrance to my own personal hell hole. It can't really get much worse. Today will be a good{ish} day. Or so I thought. Life has it out for me nowadays. I swear. Karma really is a bitch.

 **Let me know what y'all think and if i should continue the story!**

 **Hasta luego,**

 **fangirl0647 ;)**


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